Acknowledgments
As a rule, I do not travel alone; and during my explorations of fantasy landscapes, numerous traveling companions have joined me, suggesting better routes, offering invaluable advice, or just generally cheering me on. I have greatly appreciated the company of all of you.
My most heartfelt gratitude goes to Marianne Thormählen, who provided unwavering encouragement during the entire project. My work has benefited enormously from her stimulating advice, attention to detail, and willingness to devote time and energy far above and beyond the call of duty. I could not have hoped for a better cicerone on this trip. I am also immensely grateful for the help and support of Tom Shippey, whose knowledge of Tolkien and numerous other areas of the fantastic has been a tremendous resource.
A number of people have discussed, read, and commented on various stages of this text. Above all, credit should go to the members of the Higher Literary Seminar in the English Studies section at the Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University, whose willingness to dedicate time and effort to improving this text was always sincerely appreciated. This book owes a great deal to your work. My warmest thanks also go to Lisa Isaksson, Martin Andersson, Petra Andersson, David Sandboge, Susanna Karlsson, Viktoria Holmqvist, Christine Mains, Brian Attebery, Stefan Högberg, Richard McKinney, Mattias Ekman, Farah Mendlesohn, Siv Tapper, and Jenni Tyynelä for reading various drafts and sharing your knowledge (and libraries) with me.
For the quantitative map study in chapter 2 , I was in particular need of assistance. If it had not been for the kind support of SF-Bokhandeln, the bookseller that gave me access to its database as well as its stock, that study would have been next to impossible to carry out. Pia Heidrich, Aidan-Paul Canavan, and Lena Ekman: without your help, the chapter would have been much the poorer. I am also indebted to Cai and Bengt Alme, Immi Lundin, Anna Clara Törnqvist, Marie Wallin, and Katarina Bernhardsson, who all made my journey considerably less strenuous and much more pleasant. Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to the following foundations for generously funding part of my work: Hjalmar Gullberg och Greta Thotts stipendiefond (Hjalmar Gullbergand Greta Thott Scholarship Fund), Fil dr Uno Otterstedts fond för främjande av vetenskaplig undervisning och forskning (Dr. Uno Otterstedt Fund for the Advancement of Scholarly Education and Research), Knut och Alice Wallenbergs stiftelse (Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation), and Hilma Borelius stipendiefond (Hilma Borelius Scholarship Fund).
Finally, I am deeply grateful to my friends and my extended family, who have been invaluable companions on the road of writing. I especially thank my parents for introducing me to fantasyland all those years ago and always accepting and supporting my commitment to the genre. Without you, this journey would never have begun. Most of all, I would like to thank Helena Francke, who has been with me every step of the way toward this book, however rough the going. Were it not for her patience with my constant talk of fantasy, and the generosity with which she gave of her time, expertise, and sound advice, this book would not have turned out the way it did, and my journey would have been a grueling and dreary trek indeed.
Here Be DRAGONS
Appendix B: Map Sample
Note: These works were all tagged as novels although some of them are short story collections. The collections have been kept in the sample because some of them (for instance, the Conan books) actually come equipped with maps. Although the incidence of maps in collections may vary from that in novels, a workâs status as a collection does not appear to decide whether or not it contains a map, and simply being a collection was thus not deemed to be sufficient grounds for exclusion. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database ( www.isfdb.org
Elizabeth Adler
Karen Schwabach
T Patrick Phelps
Shannon Wendtland
Anna Gavalda
Sarah Waters
Brandi Johnson
Ken Fite
Roy Johansen
Drew Sinclair